fêting the forgotten; curating the uncultivated

Category Archives: Lincoln

A visit to the Antique Auto Club of America’s annual fall meet in Hershey PA presented this site’s gate keepers with a dilemma. Our focus has long been to highlight cars as they are — uncurated, so to speak — in their natural environment. That means that auctions and car shows are removed from our consideration set.

’60 Olds wears a full body condom

Just the same, we’ve decided it would be OK to offer a look at some of the sights experienced at Hershey. On the day we were there rain fell in torrents and the setting was one of poignancy that compelled us to share the resulting photo essay. Both gleaming show cars and beaters under plastic sheeting or left on their own to endure the elements offer, at the very least, a soupçon of feralosity (feralousness?) There’s a real sadness in this circumstance: works of rolling art and heaps, alike, are vulnerable. Indeed, as are we all. The sun will eventually shine again and melancholy will ultimately turn to joy. That’s certainly our hope. Have a look…

Rainy day sale and it even “runs and drives”

If have to go to the hospital, go Packard style or “ask the man who is prone in one”

We’re excited to be involved with DRIVEN, an event that features the drawings of Eric Nash and some of his automotive subject matter in the flesh. If you find yourself anywhere near Palm Springs on February 19th please come on by. Eric’s art is nothing short of brilliant and we intend to populate the curb with some freaky feral finds.

Host for the event is ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons who knows a thing or two about cool cars. Here he is with a fine ’66 Mercury.

Clearly, Billy is crazy ’bout a Mercury

Click herefor an interview with Eric Nash by Angela Romeo. The guy is a talent!

Billy Gibbons spoke to Autoline about some the cars in his collection. Good stuff.

And here’s “that Gibbons boy” enlisting the help of Manny, Moe & Jack to help with an “out of round” tire.

Jeepers! ZZ Topper seems to have a case of the Willys

If you’ve stalked a feral car and would like to submit a photo of it for posting consideration please send it to us: info (at) feralcars (dot)com OR through our Facebook page.

You may have read a previous post that concerned the ’69 – ’71Lincoln Continental Mark III, called by some “the French Connection Continental.” If not, you can catch up right here.

We hesitate to feature another one of these so soon but this ’71, wearing Paint Code S (Gray Gold Metallic), comes with some very impressive stats, a charmingly variegated finish and, oh yeah, it’s looking for a home. We’re not used car brokers so you’re on your own here but we were very impressed with the info provided by soon-to-be former owner Keith Burke. The car is all original, for better or worse, but we think mostly for the better. To wit, it’s only got 42,900 miles on the clock and his asking price is south of $4000. On the “for worse” side of the issue is the fact this Mark III spent quite a few years outside. That’s “outside” as in “outside in Iowa” which is, we’re told, not the most hospitable circumstance for the preservation of fine automotive finishes. It’s resting in Palm Springs at the moment, by the way.

Nothing to hide or be ashamed of and something of a mark of authenticity.

We like it the way it is and the rust you see doesn’t seem to be invasive or advancing. The cool move, of course, would be to strip away the vinyl top which was only a clever styling trick to hide weld seams on the car’s roof. Have some go-getter body shop sand the seams away and paint it all one color. We’ve seen one like that and it has some very serious presence. The vinyl treatment reminds one of a hairpiece on a bald guy: you know he’d be more dignified without it.

The interior is original and in excellent shape and, apart from the rust found mostly where the vinyl top ends and reality begins, this car is most impressive at a distance. Yet, we think it can get through the age of HD even with that crackled paint and rust which is, technically, oxidation and that has something to with oxygen and that’s what we need to breathe so it can’t really be all that bad, can it?

Again, nothing to hide except, perhaps, an imaginary spare tire.

The ever so eleganté faux spare tire in the back it wears its crackled finish patina in a lovely Grey Gardens/Sunset Boulevard kind of way, don’t you think?

If you’re interested in contacting Keith let us know and we’ll connect you. We have no role or participation in any commercial transactions that may result from such a connection and, no, we don’t mean the French kind, either.

Speaking of which, we found this terrific clip from the film that features the car in several scenes, both in New York and in Marseilles. Go get ’em, Popeye Doyle!

If you’ve stalked a feral car and would like to submit a photo of it for posting consideration please send it to us: info (at) feralcars (dot)com OR through our Facebook page.

Include your name, location of the car and some thoughts about the vehicle and we’ll look into getting it the attention it deserves.

We’ve long referred to the sophisticated and sinister Continental Mark III as the “French Connection Lincoln,” a reflection of its role in the William Friedkin film as Marseille Mafia mogul Fernando Rey’s cush ride on the mean streets of New York. Later, he ships it back to the heroin smuggling capital of Western Europe, a kind of mechanical ‘mule.’ A Mark III cruising Manhattan with French plates is, let’s face it, a cool move even if no illegal substances are involved. This revisit of Edsel Ford’s vision of personal, sporting luxury was brought forth when, in 1965, fresh from his triumphant launch of the Mustang, Ford capo Lee Iacocca reportedly issued an edict along the lines of “put a Rolls Royce grille on a Thunderbird and we’ll sell it as a Lincoln.”

His highest common denominator approach brought profits quickly as the ’69 – ’71 generation of Continental was a significant sales success. The first model year saw production come within a mere 500 units of Cadillac’s more entrenched Eldorado. This splendid, very much in service, “III” wears jaunty blue and white livery and sports the de rigueur vinyl roof. We’ve seen at least one that left the factory without such and the roof line, unadorned, makes the design all the more intimidating.

Tales of the tires or, as Swamp Dogg so poetically put it, “Pucker up while I’m backin’ up.”

Couldn’t help notice that a latter day pretender to the Mark III’s heritage is parked directly behind this Nixon era, pre-Watergate, stunner. It’s a Mark VII built in the same Wixom, Michigan plant as its forebear but quite subdued and only minimally flamboyant. Yes, they dulled it down in the 80’s and early 90’s but there is still that faux tire hump, a hold over from the glory years.

Fernando Rey piloting his “Connie” near the Tri-Boro Bridge:

License plate research indicates French baddie’s “voiture américaine de grande luxe” was registered in Bourges.

We found a ’71 Mark III on Ebay in a color that the official designation, “Light Goldenrod Yellow,” doesn’t begin to describe. It’s a MUST SEE The “Buy It Now” price of $19,900 seems fair in light of the paltry 32,000 (original?) miles. Get your bid in now and use this beauty at home and abroad!

If you’ve stalked a feral car and would like to submit a photo of it for posting please send it to us: info (at) feralcars (dot)com Include your name, location of the car and some thoughts about the vehicle and we’ll look into getting it posted.